Gerald A. Fisher - Local Government Law; A Practical Guidebook for Public Officials on City Councils, Community Boards, and Planning Commissions

Special gratitude to my son, Martin Fisher, who used his legal and other skills to provide assistance in many capacities leading to the completion of this book, including his editing, patience, humor, conceptualization, and critical analysis.

I am also grateful to Professor Devin Schindler, and attorneys Steve Joppich and Patrick McGow, for their assistance in untying abstract knots and providing helpful suggestions and assurances on particular subjects.

You have just been elected or appointed to serve as a local government official. Great! Your involvement allows you to make a meaningful contribution and provide a service to your community. But one nagging question may be in the back of your mind: what preciselyis a local government? This question leads to others, such as: what are the limits of local government authority? Of all the actions that can be taken by local, state, and federal government, what can local officials legitimately set their sights on accomplishing? These are very basic and legitimate questions.

To begin answering these and related questions, we start by examining the allocation of authority among the local, state, and federal governments with the goal of seeing where local government fits in the overall scheme. Where the functionallines are drawn between these three levels of government is certainly not within the bounds of common knowledge. It can safely be assumed that local, state, and federal governments should not all perform the same functions. If they did, it would result in ongoing conflicts and confusion, with tasks and positions duplicated, all leading to maximum inefficiency. Instead, when our system is functioning at its best, each level of government stays in its own lane. For local governments, this involves doing such things as determining how residents are to be provided with public safety services, such as police, fire, and emergency response, and quality of life enhancements, such as local parks or a thriving commercial center. Stated more broadly, local government can best look out for matters which are predominantly of local concern. The federal government cannot account for or accommodate the nuances of such local matters, just as local governments couldnt hope to independently provide for the national defense.

The federalgovernment was designed to have limited powers, with the states and the peoplehaving broad authority.

The constitution enumerates specific powers delegated to the federal government.

At the time the constitution was initially ratified, ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were approved. The Tenth Amendment declares that if the constitution does not expressly enumerate a power as belonging to the federal government, it is reserved to the states or the people.

Starting with a broad overview, here is a look across some key organizing principles.

The federalgovernment was designed to have limited powers, with the states and the people having all the rest. Specifically, the federal constitution enumerates specific powers delegated to the federal government. At approximately the time the Constitution was initially ratified, ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were added. In precise explanatory language, the Tenth Amendment declares that if the Constitution does not expressly enumerate a power as belonging to the federal government, it is reserved to the states or the people.

Moving to the states, each state has its own constitution. These constitutions lay out the plan of government, including the recognition and establishment of local governments in various forms, such as cities, villages, towns, townships, and counties.

To ascertain the authority of a local government, the place to start looking is the state constitution, which may contain a direct delegation of authority to local government, or may direct the state legislature to establish and authorize local governments. Most likely, the constitutional plan of government will provide a general delegation and direct the legislature to fill in the details. Local governments are actually considered to be a subdivisions of the state government, contributing an essential role specialized around unique local conditions and issues with authority over matters of local concern to be exercised closest to the people.

To view local government in context, we must start at the top of the power structure the federal government.